the boys gave one impotent heave at the heavily laden boat. She did not budge. Annestley leaned over and slapped the nearest passenger across the face. He roared and rose at the outrage; but while he was getting up his nerve to hit back, something happened. Annestley cried out and gripped the gunwale desperately with both hands. His face went suddenly white; his jaws clinched. Catran threw his arms around him and pulled. A boy plunged toward them through the shallow water and drove his steel-shod boat-hook dong the line of Annestley's extended leg.

Annestley was suddenly released. They lifted him into the boat. His right foot was a ghastly sight--shreds of puttee, shreds of boot, shreds of flesh.

"If they'd gone all together--if they'd gone all together with a splash--" he sobbed, more for rage than for pain.

Catran had out his sharp hunting-knife . With quick slashes he cut away what was left of puttee, trouser, and boot. He held the mangled foot over the side and washed it roughly--thor

Reviews

A man's story about men doing manly stuff. Two British hunters head upriver somewhere in Africa to see what trophies they can kill. They have good luck, which fails them on the trip back. The river falls, and it's a struggle to get back to civilization.

A good adventure tale, with the wanton slaughter of animals, and some strange language choices (saurian refection means crocodile food), and the obligatory white man's disdain of the natives.

A well paced, manly short story. It is a somewhat formulaic river journey but worth it just to reach the wonderful conclusion. You will need to overlook the outdated racial stereotypes. It was from 1914.

Download

Donate a small amount via Paypal below or read about some other ways that you can support ManyBooks.